Folding camp chair



April 13, 1926... f

E. E. McGREw 'FOLDING om? CHAIR Filed sept. g. 1924 2 @est-Shut 1 iminimum of time and Patented Apr. 13, 1926.

.UNITED STATES 1,586,557 PATENT OFFICE.

EARL E. MCGREW, OF LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, ASSIGNOR T MCGREW MACHINE COM-PANY, or LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, A oeRPonATIoN or NEBRASKA.

FOLDING CAMP CHAIR.

Application led September 2, 1924. Serial No. 735,514.

To all fwhnmz't may concern Be it known that I, EARL E. MCGREW, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Lincoln, in the` county ofLancaster' and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Folding Camp Chairs, o-f which the following is aspecification.

- My invention relates to folding chairs. Such chairs are most commonlydemanded for use on automobile and other camping trips, and my chair.has been designed primarily for this purpose. To meet this 'need thechair must be strong, rigid and comfortable when set up and it must foldinto a. very compact bundle. The folding and unfolding must beaccomplished in the must be as nearly automatic as it is possible tomake it. It must have no loose parts which are liable to become lostwhen breaking camp. My invention has for its object the provision ofsuch a chair. Other objects will be brought out in the followingdescription.v

Referring now to the drawings,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of one form4 of my chair as viewed whenset up.

Figure 2 is a view in perspective of the lower portion offone of theback supports.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the latch for locking the backsupport.

Figure l is a rear elevation of. one of the back supports withitslatching connections, showing also the directions in ,which the variouslatching forces act. Y

Figure 5 is a view in perspective o-f aportion of a chair which isequipped with a modified form of latch. j

Figure 6 is a perspective view from the rear of one of the corners ofthe chair shown in Figure 5.

The stool portion of Figure 1. The foot my chair is shown in portion ofthe stool r comprises two U-shaped members 10 of stra-p iron, themembers 10 being pivotally connected by the rod 11. Pivotally connectedto the rod 11 at each end thereof are two links 12. The free vends ofthefront and rear links 12 of each lateral pair are pivotall 1 13 tie-ingthe support for the seat 1.4Y which is preferably made from canvas orsimilar fabric. rl`he front and rear links 12 of each lateral pair arealso connectedy by a bail 15, the ends ofwhich'arepivotallyv secured insecured to a rod 13, the pair ofrods with loops which are made bybending when forming the bails. The links 16 are each secured at oneendin a loop of a bail and at the other end in the side portion of one ofthe U-shaped members 10. The U-shaped members 10 are detachablyconnected with each other by means of the latching links 17, each ofwhich is pivotally and permanently secured to a member 10. The free endsof the links 17 are each provided with a plurality of notches forengaging a pin projecting from the opposite member 10. Y f

- The stool alone as above describedlis'old and I lay no claim to anynovel features thereof, except as they cooperate in structure andoperation with the chair back and its various parts. j The stool howeveris remarkable for its simplicity and rigidity and for the ease withwhich it may be folded and unfolded. By unlatching the links 17 thestool may be almost instantly foldedinto a. bundle having dimensionsonly slightly in excess of those of the U-shaped member 10. It may be asquickly set up, the seat being made tautby forcing the free ends of theU-shaped members toward each other and lwhich is. rigid and secure andwhich may be folded with the stool. For this purpose I have provided twosupporting arms 18 for supporting the fabric back 19, with a late lingdevice 20 for the supporting arms. I ,will now describe these in detail.

'The latching device 2O has an aperture 21 for pivotally securing it toay rod 13 at the rear extremity thereof, the `rods l13 being that' partof the stool which supports the seat 14. Integral with the latch andprojecting rearwardly therefrom are two wings 22 and 23, the wing 22being crimped inwardly at its lower extremity as shown in Figure 3. Theback wall of the latch 20 is cut away at its lupper end, leavingupwardly projecting ears on the wings 22 and 23. The ears areapertured'at24, The wings 22 and are cutaway ap `reciablyA below thepivot aperture 21 and t e back portion porting arms for the back.

fort of chairs over stools. The stool itself is of a type which can becompactly foldedV into the minimum of space and which is exceedinglylight in weight, but the addition of my back rest to the stooladdsvalmost nothing to the weight of the chair or tothe dimensions ofthe folded bundle. The stool is of course locked against any possibilityof accidentally,collapsing vand my chair baclr is so designed that it islatched and unlatclied automatically with the latching and unlatcliingof the stool. The latch moreover is positive in action, Vand it preventsboth the forward tilting of the back and the inward movement of the Sup-The supporting arms, being made from channel steel, are exceedinglyrigid and will not bend even under the roughest usage. Their abutmentsare somewhat remote from their pivots so that the supporting arms areprovided with rigid pivotal connections which prevent the rearwardcollapsing of the back rest when the occupant leans back heavily. Thestructure of the latch is such that the latch alone is sufficient forthis purpose but if it is felt that additional reinforcement isdesirable K' or necessary, the link braces of Figure 5v may be addedwithout materially increasing the weight, bulk, or cost of the chair.

Having thus described kmy invention in terms which will be readilyunderstood by others skilled in the art to which it pertains, what Iclaim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United Statesis l. A foldable bacli rest for chairs, said back rest including a vpairof supports secured to the chair at its rear corners, each of saidsupports being provided at its joint with the chair with a pair ofhorizontally positioned pivots, one of said pivots being in alignmentwith the side edge of the chair seat and the other of said pivots beingrearward of and parallel to the rear edge of the chair seat. l l

' 2. In combination with the side member of the seat of a folding chair,a latch member' pivotally secured to said side member at its rearextremity and having said side member as its axis for pivotal movement,a back rest support, and a horizontal transverse pivot pin connectingsaid back rest support to said latch member.

fil. In combination with the side member of the seat of afolding cha-ir,a latch niem-V bei' pivotally secured to said side member at its rearextremity and having said side member as its axis for pivotal movement,means for limiting the pivotal movement of said latch member, a backrest support, and a horizontal transverse pivot pin connecting said backrest support to said latch member, said pivot pin being positioned abovesaid side member.

4.-. In combination with the 4side members each of said of the seat of afoldable stool, said sidev members each having a latch member se` curedthereto at its rear extremity by means of a forwardly and rearwardlyextending pivot, means for limiting the inward pivotal movements ofvsaid latch members, each of said latch members having secured thereto aback rest support by means of aligning rest for latching said back restsupports in said latching members when the stool is in its set upposition.

5. In a foldable chair, a latch member and a connection for securingsaid latch member y to the chair at one of the rear corners thereof,said connection Acomprising a forwardly and rearwardly extending pivot,said latch member being channeled and having its side walls directedrearwardly, one of said side walls being turned inwardly to form a lipat one of the extremities of said latch member, a backrest supportwithin lsaid channeled Vmember and secured thereto by a transverse pivotpassing through the rearwardly extending walls of said latch member andaffording sufficient play for said back rest support to engage said lipto maintain said backV rest support and said latch in substantialalignment.

6. In combination with a f oldable stool having a fabric seat which issecured at its opposite sides to frame side pieces which are movabletoward each other when folding the stool, each of the side pieces havinga support secured thereto at its' rear extremity, supports being securedto its respective side piece by a pair of horizontal pivots which extendin directions at right angles t0 each other. y I

7. In combination with a chair seat having side members which arefoldable toward each other, each of :said side members having a latchingdevice secured thereto at its rearextremity, said latching devices beingeach in channeled .form and havingA an inturned lip inthe lower vportionof its outer wall, each of said latching devices having the lowerlportion'of a Yback restv support within the'channeled V`portionthereof,'said back i'est ,support being connected to its latching deviceby means of a horizontal transverse pivot which is spaced from the lowerextremity of said support, and a tension back rest connecting the upperportions of said back rest supports, said back rest being luider tensionwhen said side: members Vof the seat and said. backrest supports f arein their operative positions, the tension of said back rest tending tospread apart the lower extremities of said back rest sup-V ports andvcausing them to engage said iiiturned'lips to hold said back restsupports in'snbstantiel alignment With seid lett-*hing e ilegible beckrest secured betnf'een and to 15 members.

8. In Combination with a chair seat l1aving side members which arefoldable toward eaeh other, means for rigidly securing said side membersin spaced apart relation, each of seid side members having a latchmember secured thereto at its rear extremity, each of said latch membershaving a back rest support secured thereto by means of a hori- Zonteltransverse pivot which is spaced above its respective side member sothat each of said beck rest supports may be folded into parallelrelation With its side member,

the upper portions of said back rest supports, said back rest beingunder tension when said side members of the seat are in 'their spacedapart relation, and means whereby vthe tensioning` of said back restcauses the lower extremities of said back rest supports to be engaged bysaid latch members to prevent the folding of seid back rest supports.

In testimony whereof I afhx my signature.

EARL E. MCGREWT.

